MeetFighters News
Wakeup Call
Dear members,
Unfortunately I bring you sad news for the otherwise happy new year. Last month, one of our members has died in a fight, apparently one that he has arranged on this site. The news reports that I have read are a bit sparse (and sometimes downright wrong) on details, and a police investigation is ongoing, so I am not in a position to go into details.
This really made me think hard about safety, and what I could have done to prevent a tragedy like this. Now the deceased was an experienced fighter, who has been practicing various combat sports and MMA since childhood. He knew and loved fighting better than most of us. There's little advice or warning that I could have given him that would be of use. I also realize that this site has facilitated lots and LOTS of matches, none of which have ended in tragedy during the three-year existence of the site, until now.
Still, I have a feeling that I had an indirect role to play here, and so, I'm thinking about what I can do to promote safe fighting. As usual, any tips are welcome. Let's try to deal with this constructively, without over- or underplaying the issue or scaremongering. This is both an isolated incident and a wakeup call.
Site updates follow:
- The Chat system has been upgraded; it now supports international letters better. It also has a webcam feature! (Flash only.)
- You can re-activate your e-mail address by requesting a new activation code. This is useful if your e-mail address was bouncing and the system deactivated it.
- A bunch of small, behind-the-scenes fixes.
On an unrelated note, Happy New Year!
leatherhound (0)
2012-01-01 오후 2:49i reported this a week or so ago but was corrected by other members - it is a usa site allfighters.com and not this one that was involved. but point regarding safety is valid none the less especcially for boxers, mma fighters and any fights involving strikes. possible safety measures:
- dont fight alone, have a ref to watch
- wear head gear if you are boxing with gloves especcially
- consider punches to soft areas rather than head/ribs
i am sure these are open to objection and many more can be added. a fight involves risk and that is part of the thrill of it so it comes down to personal choice, so long as it is an educated informed choice.
huge fighting man (2 )
2012-01-01 오후 4:10(이 글에 대한 답글)
I did comment on bare knuckle fighters as well about the death of this fellow. I lean on the side of just agree not to fight to mandatory knockouts. I am sure somewhere somebody is gonna come up with actual numbers but there are thousands of underground fights or fights offically not sanctioned a week in the USA. Non sanctioned is without a doctor present or medical assistance on site. These are any men sparring outside of a sanctioned gym anywhere on any level. Yes fighting is a risk and those of us who do fight understand that. You are still a lot more likely to die in an auto crash on the way to the fight by percentage though. I bet you are at least as likely to be struck down by lighting. I live out here near where this happened. It is doubtful if a doc had been at ring side he would of survived. Read what these interest groups are promoting and decide or not for yourself about the risks. I am and always have thought corner men were a good idea and that a man could have the fight stopped if both corner guys agreed. As you said want to keep this low key but at same time want to address it.
oceans (0)
2012-01-01 오후 5:51What happened to good oldfashioned wrestling? Anyone into all this bare nuckle and boxing stuff is insane.
BoxerguyMiWI (3)
2012-01-02 오전 5:28This is so sad to hear, we all enjoy fighting but sometimes as careful as we may be things just don't go real well. My condolences to this member and his family in their time of grief.
Sturdy (31)
2012-01-03 오후 1:33I have a feeling that I had an indirect role to play here
All you have done is provide an excellent resource for people interested in combat sports to contact each other and arrange meetings. You have no control over the fact that this will also include complete idiots who live in their own fantasy world of bare-knuckle fights, "NHB" etc. and are not capable of acting with common sense.
There is no way you should feel responsible for the actions of consenting adults who are unable to act with intelligence and maturity.
Gaygophergod (1)
2012-01-04 오전 1:16The point raised by the webmaster in sensible and i fully support the aim. I think that dating sites have a responsibility to point out ways to date safely, sites people use for sex have a responsibility to advise on safe sex and sites for fighting have a responsibility to promote safe fighting. I firmly believe you need to cater for the most vulnerable in society. On this site there will be people who have never done this before so should be provided with advice in order to prevent injury and to get the most out of their experience. Safe fighting is hard to promote in the context of allfighters.info. I suggest that you look at the rules of organisations which organise fights and reproduce sensible ones here. I know that some judoka feel that there is no issue with loosing conciousness whilst fighting however i dont think such advice is sensible for this site. You might also want to look at the ethos of various martial arts and their related societies and reproduce the more appropriate ones here eg to do with respecting your opponent , knowing your limits and capabilities and knowing when to ease off particularly when your are obviously superior or inferior to your opponent. Such things are usually discussed in the rules for training section of societies rather than their competition sections. I hope that you wont shy away from this task in the same way that some dating and sex sites do. The task is very complex as most fights arranged here take place behind closed doors, with no medical back up and with people of varying levels of skill (often the least skilled fighters are most likely to be injured or do themselves an injury). I hope that i have given you some useful suggestions regarding starting points and look forward to seeing what you come up with.
brownbear (0)
2012-01-04 오후 8:06This is sad news. This was definitely an accident, as the deceased was an experienced fighter and knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, accidents are common in sports, even after taking sufficient safety measures. May he rest in peace.